The Second Task: The Lost Library
by delphinous
Summary: the mermish tribe doesn't like veela, so they call off the second task. What are the heads of the schools to do? why, throw together a new second trial of course. Harry/Fleur
1. Chapter 1

The Second Trial: The Lost Library

"Harry Potter must wakes ups sir, he musts!"

Harry heard these words cried into his ear from far too close. As a result, when harry jerks his head back, he feels a momentary suspension, as though gravity has just ceased to affect him, and then his chair continues to tilt backwards taking him with it.

With a loud crash Harry is on the floor staring into a pair of bulbous green eyes as dobby pulls on his shirt.

"Harry mustn't be lates, get up get up."

Harry rolls over with a groan, stands up slowly, and looks at his watch. 8:50. …….. Oh Shit.

"Gah, the second task starts in ten minutes. And I haven't found a way to breath underwater yet." Harry groans as he starts towards the door.

"Harry Potter sir, eat this before you go in. it will help you gets your weezy back." Dobby exclaims as he pushes a slimy green ball into harry's pocket. He also hands harry his swimming trunks, which harry quickly changes into under his robes. (I mean really, did he sleep in them the night before? Dumb movie)

Harry takes off sprinting towards the Black Lake, and arrives just in time to hear Ludo Bagman finish his speech. He Lines up along with the other champions, mentally preparing himself to jump into a lake in late February. Brrrr.

Then suddenly, a young girl with silvery hair and an angelic face pops out of the water not two feet from Harry. Not knowing what's happening, or noticing Dumbledore stop speaking, Harry reaches down towards the girl, and lifts her out of the lake when she grabs his hand. He is then knocked out of the way by Fleur as she runs by with an exclamation of "Gabrielle" followed by some French that Harry didn't understand.

Harry then notices three more heads pop out of the water, also near the platform, and as he and Cedric pull them out, Harry realizes that they are Cho, Ron and Hermione. Immediately after pulling Hermione out, Krum hurries over to her, takes her hand, and pulls a water beetle out of her hair. (My guess is that she was hanging out around bagman, being afraid of Dumbledore, but she flew over when people started coming out of the lake)

Harry passes Ron off to Madam Pomfrey, who is already passing out towels and casting warming charms, and walks over to Dumbledore, who is talking to a merman near the platform. The other champions are quick to follow him.

After talking for a few minutes, the merman sunk into the water and Dumbledore stood up and faced the gathered champions, adults, and students.

"Sonorous", he whispers, followed by "It would appear that the Second Task is being postponed. The Mermish tribe in the Black Lake who had agreed to host this task have declared that they will have nothing to do with a child of a veela, for doing so would break an old Treaty that we humans have forgotten. They have returned the champions hostages, and as such, we need to come up with a new second task for out champions. Professor Karkaroff, Madam Maxine, and I will announce at dinner today what will happen, or if we have come up with a new trial.

After an uneventful day where Harry gave Dobby back the gillyweed, Harry, Ron and Hermione went to dinner, and Harry was on edge, not having any idea what would com tonight. Although all three Heads were present, they seemed to be relaxed and in no hurry to announce the future task. After a tension filled dinner Harry finally got his answer.

Dumbledore stood up, and waited patiently. After the ruckus had died down, he cleared his throat and said, "We have agreed on what the new Second Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament shall be, and we would like everyone to know that the task will happen immediately after dinner. Could the Champions please prepare themselves and be ready to face their trial in one half hour? Thank you"

With that he sat down, and harry turned to Hermione and Ron, and asked "do you have any idea what this task will be?"

Both shook their heads, to Harry's disappointment, and harry left the great hall to 'prepare' himself. Really, all he did was wander around for thirty minutes mentally going over spells, before wandering back into the great hall, where he that the tables had been removed, and on a raised dais in the middle of the room, stood a table with an odd colored object on it. Harry realized that what he was looking at was a book that was slowly changing colors, currently it was changing from plaid to purple.

He walked over to where Cedric and Krum were standing, while Ron and Hermione walked over to join the rest of the spectators. After another minute Madam Maxine and Fleur walked in, with Dumbledore and Karkaroff a few steps behind. Dumbledore allowed Madam Maxine to walk up to the dias, where she reverently picked up the book and turned to look at the champions.

As she began explaining the book, Harry developed and odd feeling. It wasn't so much a bad feeling, so much as he just felt that what happened next would change the world as he knew it.

"This book came into the care of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in the early 1200's" she began (she's the head of the primary school in France, I personally think she just put on an accent when she talks to Dumbledore to mess with him). "It was put into the care of the Headmaster, in the hopes that he could figure out what it was. He learned that this book, titled The Lost Library, is in fact the portal to the lost library of Alexander the Great. It is heavily enchanted, and it will allow anyone who passes it's test to enter the library."

At this, Harry could see Hermione bouncing on her feet, and he knew she wanted to test the book herself.

Madam Maxine continued "Since our Headmaster discovered the purpose of the book in 1223, all following Headmasters and mistresses have tried and failed to pass the test. The test is unique for each individual, but it is five separate challenges back to back, and the person must pass each test before moving on. This will be the challenge. Our champions will take the test, and as the avatar of the library announces the persons courage, we will know which champion is the most courageous. Champions, please step forward."

Harry and the others moved up to the dais, and following Maxine's instructions, they all laid their hands on the book. They were told to keep their hands on the book while Maxine recited the spell to begin the test.

As Madam Maxine spoke words Harry didn't understand, but knew to be Greek, since Alexander was Greek, He felt the feeling in the pit of his stomach flare, and he knew he was starting a new adventure.

He felt a tug behind his eyes, in the center of his brain, much like a portkey, and only had the though "here we go again" in mind as he felt his body pulled into the book via his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

The Second Trial: The Lost Library

Chapter 2

It finally dawned on him. He understands now. There is a perfectly legitimate reason that Harry is so amazing at flying. It's because for some reason, he took all his natural skill at other forms of travel, which is usually balanced in an average person, and but it towards flying. Thus, we have the amazing flyer who hates portkeys, floos, aparation, and now book-keys. Why does he also hate book-keys? Well, it goes like this.

WHAM!

"Son of a witch" (i know what it normally is)

Harry exclaimed, as he simultaneously had an epiphany and slammed his face into the floor. The stone floor.

After picking himself back up, and finding that while his nose hurt like none other, it wasn't broken, Harry looked around, and immediately noticed the absence of the other champions. In fact, he realized, there was an absence of anything. Harry was in a circular stone room. The only thing in the room, was a 14 year old boy, a torch, and a door, handleless, with the engraving on it:

FIRST TRIAL

ALL YE WHO ENTER FOR GLORY VAIN

SHALL FIND NO ONE KNOWS THEIR NAME

NAME THE TEST

AND CONQUER THE TRIAL

TO CONTINUE ONWARD

"Huh," why would someone who looks for glory be nameless, harry wondered. Then, it hit him.

"Fear," he said, "This is the trial of a person's fear, or maybe their greatest fear."

As he spoke those words, the doors handle appeared, so harry stepped forwards, and pulled the door open.

There was a cloud, or a fog, inside the door. Harry couldn't see more than three feet. With a shrug, harry walked through the doorway, but when he turned around, there was no door.

He wondered what his greatest fear was, since he was no longer terrified of Dementors. Scared, yes, respectful ,yes, but not terrified. He turned around and began walking into the mist. Harry heard something to his left, a low sound, that of foorsteps. He turned to see what it was, and what he saw confused him. He saw Ron and Hermione walking away holding hands. They were older, and obviously in love. He didn't understand how this was supposed to make him afraid, until he noticed that they were walking down a hall of Hogwarts. And that as they were walking, and older Harry was walking the other way. Harry saw his older self smile at Ron and Hermione, but he saw no reaction on their faces. They continued along past him, and harry saw the smile drop. Older Harry then slumped his shoulders and walked off, alone.

Harry fell to his knees on the floor, his eyes blurring as they stared at the ground. He knew what his greatest fear was now. He didn't fear for his life. He didn't fear reliving his worst moments. He feared being left behind, being unneeded by his friends. He feared being alone again, with no one to be close to, no one to share the laughs and the tears of life with. And for a time, Harry wept. He knew that this wasn't the truth. He knew his friends still loved him. And he felt shame, that even when he had loving friends, he would still doubt them. And he felt hate. Hate at himself for succumbing to a simple vision.

After a time of letting these emotions run loose, harry pulled himself together and stood back up. He looked back at the picture, where Sirius was walking with an older lady past older Harry, and decided that if this ever came to pass, if his friends ever stopped needing him, he wouldn't give up. He would continue to be their friends even if they didn't acknowledge him. He would still help them when they needed help. He would still consider them friends, and he would never abandon them. With this determination, Harry turned and saw another door. This door was blank but had a handle, so harry opened it and walked through.

* * *

Fleur walked into the second room, breathing hard and heart still pounding, and sat down in the chair that was located to her left.

She briefly remembered the last room, and shuddered as she thought 'I'll never let a man touch me like that. Never.'

After a few minutes of deep breathing and meditating, fleur got her emotions fully under control. Wild emotions, even contained as they had been when she walked through the door, were dangerous for veela to feel. She had to suppress them when they roiled like they had. This isn't to say she couldn't feel emotions, she just had far worse consequences if they controlled her.

When fleur had herself calm and collected again, she looked around the room and saw another door. This door had the inscription:

SECOND TRIAL

YOU HAVE PROVEN THAT YOUR GREATEST FEAR

WILL NOT CONTROL YOU WHEN IT'S NEAR

NOW YOU MUST PROVE YOUR DETERMINATION

OR FACE ETERNAL DAMNATION

Fleur snorted at the inscription, knowing that if she failed the test she wouldn't be eternally damned, she would just be ejected back into the real world. With these comforting thoughts in mind fleur opened the door. Before her was a vast plane of snow and ice. In the far distance fleur could see a tiny shape, and as there was nothing else visible, fleur knew that was her destination. As fleur stepped through the door, she realized two things. First, she realized that it was very cold, and that the wind was blowing fiercely. Second, Fleur realized that she no longer had her wand. She turned around to get it, thinking she had left it inside, and saw a sign on a post behind her that said:

YOUR MAGIC SHAL NOT BE ALLOWED FOR THESE TRIALS

ANY USE OF MAGIC TO PASS THESE TRIALS WILL RESULT IN

IMMEDIATE DISQUALIFICATION

MAGIC IS PERMITED BETWEEN TRIALS

This sign filled fleur with dread, because it was very cold on the snowy plain, and without her wand she wouldn't be able to easily keep herself warm. She was halfway through generating a ball of fire using her veela abilities, but she stopped herself realizing that was magic too. With a sigh, Fleur turned and began walking towards the dot in the distance, pulling her silk dress tighter around her.

* * *

An indeterminate time later, a violently shivering Fleur looked up from her feet to see how close she was to her destination. She hadn't looked in a while and expected to be able to see more clearly what she was walking towards. She was right. She could see what she was walking towards. It was a mountain. A large mountain. With a building on top of it and a path running up the side. And despite being able to see the path and the building, Fleur knew she was only just over halfway. She sank to her knees, ignoring the biting cold of the ground and felt despair wash over her.

"A mountain. Zey want me the climb to ze top of a mountain. It cannot be done. Not in zis weazer."

Fleur looked up at the mountain and it seemed to be even bigger. She thought of how she hated the cold, and how she didn't want to die here in some godforsaken wasteland. She was halfway through forming a ball of flame again (it takes time unless she is running hot on rage) when she remembered what the door had said. She realized that his was the test. Not to see if she could reach the top of the ountain, but to see if she would try. To see if she would keep going even when it seemed hopeless. Feeling a little bit hopeless herself, Fleur stood up and began trudging along again.

* * *

Yet more time had gone by, and by now Fleur could barely feel her hands. She had lost feeling in her feet long ago, seeing as silken slippers were not made for trudging through icy wastes. Fleur took another step, and felt her leg bounced off of something. The instant burst of pain shocked her dulled mind back to full alertness, and fleur looked up and realized that she was at the base of the mountain. She was about to let out a cheer until she saw the path she had to follow. It was incredibly steep, and narrow too as it wound up the mountain. She realized that this was another test of her determination, because the mountain looked much bigger up close than from a distance. Fleur sighed, gathered her skirts up, went around the rock she had banged her shin against, and started up the path.

She was only ten feet up it when she thought "Phff, path. No, this is a goat trail, at best."

* * *

This time the cold, addled mind of Fleur almost got herself killed before she regained lucidity. She had reached the end of the path and nearly walked off the cliff at the top of the mountain. Quickly taking a step back, and feeling her heart beat double time in her chest, Fleur turned around, expecting to see a building. What she saw instead was a flat expanse, about twenty feet wide, of open stone. There was no building, no door, nothing. For a moment, Fleur felt like she might cry, before she pushed that unneeded thought away and started to think. After a few minutes, Fleur looked farther, and saw what she thought she might see. She was on a subpeak, a secondary peak below the highest peak, usually fairly close to the highest peak. For the first time in this trial Fleur felt pride in herself, for getting this far, and figuring out the last part of the challenge. Now that she was looking for it, she saw how the path continued down the other side of the rock, and then went up towards the true peak. She knew that this would be a short walk, and sure enough, ten minutes later Fleur was standing in front of an old house. She put her cold numbed hand on the handle, and pulled the door open. She stumbled through the door enjoying the warmth of the stone room beyond it.

* * *

Cedric stumbled through the door leading into the stone room and collapsed face down on the floor. After three minutes he moved his arm under his head. After another ten, he groaned and rolled over onto his back, looking at his fingers expecting to see black and blue digits, destroyed by frostbite. He was pleasantly surprised to see that his fingers looked normal, and upon curling them he discovered that they worked just fine too. After a cursory inspection of the rest of his body Cedric decided that the frozen plains must have been an illusion, and he was glad to be past them.

He slowly stood, and feeling that the insidious cold had left him he turned to look at the next door.

Like the last on this door had both a handle and an inscription, which read:

THRID TRIAL

YOUR COURAGE WILL PUSH YOU FORWARD

AND YOU DETERMINATION WILL LEAD YOU ONWARD

BUT NOW WE SHALL SEE

IF YOUR SPEED IS ENOUGH TO CATCH ME

"Um, yeah. I'm not sure what that means, but I guess I'll find out."

With those sentiments Cedric pushes through the door and steps into what appears to be an alley.

Not understanding what he is supposed to do, Cedric turns around and sees a great brass key laying on a pedestal, which has written on it:

This key shall open the way

Do not lose it for you shall not get another

One hour you have to find my mate

Hurry hurry don't be late

A watch appears on Cedric's wrist that starts counting down from three hours. After seeing that the time has already begun, Cedric turns back to the key only to see it grabbed by a young man, who says

"Ooh, shiny. I think I'll keep this, and maybe I'll find what id goes to. Or maybe I'll sell it. Yeah!"

And with that, the young man, who Cedric now saw was dressed in jeans and a button down shirt, muggle clothes, took off running around the corner.

Not having much choice but to follow Cedric took off after the man. The young man seemed to be unnaturally fast, because Cedric, who played a sport that he was considering going professional in, was being matched for speed. No matter what tricks or ideas Cedric could come up with the young man stayed ahead of him.

Cedric almost lost the man one time when he ran past a short clock tower that had a wooden door that he recognized with a keyhole in it on its side wall. Not believing his luck at having found the door but not having the key Cedric took off after the young punk again.

As Cedric was running he realized that this city was similar to Venice, or possibly was Venice, because he was running over bridges and across canals the whole way. And that little punk kept turning around and taunting him, baiting him and flashing that key around.

* * *

It was a half hour later that Cedric realized that if he didn't get the key soon he wasn't going to make it in time. Checking his watch, he say that he had only 22 minutes left. So putting on a burst of speed Cedric desperately charge after the young man, who turned around to taunt Cedric again. The young man's eyes widened as they realized how close Cedric was, and he turned and ran around the nearest corner. There was a loud shriek, before the sound was cut off. Cedric followed him around a corner and saw two things. First, he saw the young punk getting beaten by three thugs, and second, he saw the key skitter across the ground and fall into the back of a boat in the canal.

Cedric then made a choice. He turned away from the boat, leaving it to get lost amongst the other boats and various pathways, and turned to the thugs punching the annoying punk. Letting out a scream, Cedric charged the thugs, knocking one of them over and punching another one hard in the face. The third one just turned and, seeing the fury in Cedric's eyes, turned and ran. The one that was knocked down grabbed his buddy with a broken nose and shuffled off.

Once he was sure they were gone, Cedric turned around to check on the punk and found him lying on the ground unconscious. Cedric picked him up, being surprised at how light he was, and took him out onto a main street, where he convinced a passing lady to show him where the nearest hospital was. After a short walk, Cedric dropped the young man off, told the on duty nurse that he had been beaten into unconsciousness, and walked out of the building. Just after he walked out, Cedric heard the watch beep, and when he looked at it, he saw a button flashing. Thinking it would stop the beeping, Cedric pressed it, only to be shocked when I jumped off his wrist and formed a door, a familiar door, a door that he thought he had failed to get to. Thinking that this was the door for failing the test, Cedric walked through the door.

* * *

Everyone was becoming quite bored. The champions had disappeared with a flash 15 minutes ago, and nothing had happened. Just as some of them were getting up to leave, there was a flash, and Victor Krum appeared, along with a large man wearing ancient armor.

The Man stepped forward and said, "Victor has shown true bravery and by conquering his greatest fear he has passed the test of courage. He has shown his dedication and his will and has passed the test of determination. But Victor has failed the third test, the test of compassion. It is my will that Victor not be allowed to enter the Ancient Library of Alexander."

With that proclamation Victor turned and asked "Vat do you mean I av failed da third test? I retrieved da Key and passed through da door, just like it said."

The man turned to victor and said, "The test was not about beating the other boy in terms of speed, it was about having compassion for your enemy when they have fallen. You ignored him while he was beaten, and though he was not real, you failed."

With that the man turned and walked back to the book. Just before he could touch it though, Dumbledore cleared his through and asked, "Sir, I would like to know who you are, and I would like to know what these tests are for, because I was told that they were a test of courage?"

The man turned one last time and said "I am the Avatar of the Library of Alexander the great. My body has been shaped to be identical to his. And the purpose of these tests is to determine the true character of those who take the test. This witch" he waves his hand at Madam Maxine, "failed the first test and thought the entire trial was about ones courage. I will be back when the others are finished."

And with that he reached down, tapped the book, and was gone, leaving a disgruntled Victor Krum and an unhappy Karkaroff.

* * *

To her surprise, Fleur found that through the door was another room, and this room had a plaque on the wall next to the door. There were no words on the door, only on the plaque. The said:

A MIGHTY MIND YOU HAVE INDEED

AND A STRONG WILL YOU HAVE TO CONTROL IT

A COMPASSIONATE SOUL YOU BEAR

TO TEMPER IT

THROUGH THIS DOOR YOU WILL FIND BOTH PUNISHMENT AND REWARD

IF YOU FAIL THIS TEST, THEN KNOW THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE FAITH IN YOURSELF

BUT IF YOU SHOULD PASS THIS TEST

YOU WILL FIND THE REWARD WORTH YOUR STRUGGLES

THE COMNPLETE THIS TASK

YOU MUST SIMPLY

WALK THROUGH THE DOOR IN THE NEXT ROOM

Fleur shook her head, feeling amazed that letting the key go had been the right choice. She had been sure she had failed, but she wasn't going to let those bullies pick on that boy like that. This test seemed incredible simple, which meant to Fleur, that it would instead be incredibly complicated.

With a long suffering sigh, Fleur pushed open the door and walked through.

The first thing she noticed was that the room vas spacious, about a thousand feet to a side. And she saw the door standing resolute in the middle of it.

Knowing there had to be more to this test than just a 500 foot walk, Fleur carefukky scanned the room, and again found nothing.

That was when her vision started to fade. At first Fleur thought the lights were dimming, but she could see that the torches burned a right at ever. It was her eyes that were fading. After a few more seconds, her eyesight was totally gone.

Now Fleur took a step towards where she remembered the door, expecting to hear something, the moving of stones, the thumping of something large walking towards her, the scream of a battle cry of some creature. But she heard nothing.

She heard NOTHING! Not her footsteps, not her breathing, nothing. Starting to panic, Fleur carefully sat down on the floor, and started crushing down her panic. She sat there and beat down her panic when she stopped feeling the stone under her. she stayed put and controlled her panic when she stopeed tasting the saliva in her mouth. And she stoop up and ignored the panic when stopped smelling the old dusty air of the room.

Well, at least she thought she stood up.

.

.

.

That though almost overwhelmed her with fear. It was a time, as she could no longer measure time, before she regained control of herself. She though back to the plaque, and the only thing that she could think of that sounded useful was the part about failure meaning that you had no faith in yourself. She had faith in herself. She knew she did.

She tried to walk forwards, although without being able to feel anything, she didn't know if she was actually doing anything. After a long time, she decided that that she had either missed the door, or she wasn't able to control her body.

This brought back the fear again, but Fleur knew there had to be a way to beat this test. She started meditating again, and started to feel a slight pull.

At first she ignored it, thinking that her mind was making it up to compensate for the loss of her senses.

'Oh God, I've had lost my senses. Oh god oh God oh God…'

'Argh', Fleur thought, as she once again pulled herself off of the brink of insanity. She knew she was close to losing it, and she knew if she even though of it, she would lose control again. Instead she felt the slight pull again, and focused on it.

She focused on the pull and felt that she knew that something was there. She had a rough idea of what distance is was, but she had no idea what is was. Not caring about the impossibilities of 'sensing' something, she began to move closer. As she got closer to it, she started to make out more clearly what is was. She couldn't grescribe it in words, and it had no definite shape, but she understood that is was A Way, a Passage, a connection from one place to another. Without any hesitation, Fleur entered the connection, and found herself falling through a doorway into another stone room.

* * *

Five minutes had passed since Krum had appeared and everybody was getting anxious for the next reappearance. They had only seconds more to wait.

In a flash, this time greeted by cheering and clapping, the avatar and Cedric reappeared. Cedric fell to his hands and knees and took deep breaths as his shivers passed.

The avatar looked compassionately down at Cedric, and then turned to the school and said, "Cedric Diggory has shown himself to have Courage in the face of fear. He has shown himself to have Determination when his will falters. He has shown himself to have Compassion, even when none is expected. However, Cedric has failed the test of Faith." And here the avatar reached down and helped Cedric to hit feet. "But do not be ashamed. For few have ever passed the test of Faith. You have shown yourself to be the kind of man who would make a good leader. Now we shall see if those two have what it takes to be legends. Fear not Cedric, for the two that remain are more special than you can imagine."

And with those cryptic words, the avatar touched the book again and was gone, leaving a thoughtful Cedric in his wake.

* * *

Harry lay on the floor, gasping, relieved beyond belief that he had gotten out of that emptiness with his mind intact. Or as close to intact as it had been before.

After assuring himself that all his sensed had returned, including the ever popular mistake of smelling his own armpit (yep, the nose works again, or at least it used too, it may be permanently damaged now) Harry stood up, and found a plaque and a message on the door. Deciding to read the plaque first, and expecting more wonky rhymes, Harry read:

CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING THE FOURTH TRIAL

AS PROMISED YOU HAVE BEEN REWARDED WITH A GREAT PRIZE

THE TRIAL HAS TAUGHT YOU A SKILL FEW KNOW EXISTS, AND EVE FEWER HAVE DEVELOPED

TO FIND YOUR WAY THROUGH THE FOURTH TRIAL YOU MUST CONTROL YOURSELF

WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR SENSES

YOU MUST THEN REACH OUT AND FEEL THE MAGIC SURROUNDING YOU

THIS IS THE REWARD: NOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN SENSE MAGIC

YOU WILL BE ABLE TOO AT WILL

BUT BE CAUTIOUS, BECAUSE THIS WILL NOT TELL YOU GREAT DEALS OF INFORMATION

IT WILL ONLY ALLOW YOU TO FIND AND IDENTIFY MAGIC FOR ITS TRUE SELF

NOW, LIKE EVERY OTHER TALENT, IT TAKES PRACTICE TO USE

SO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD AND PRACTICE

Well, that made a lot more sense than normal. It was a lot more wordy too. Harry thought about it some more, and realized that it would be similar to discovering you could see. If you have gone your whole life blind you would need to practice being able to see, so that you could understand what you saw. So taking that idea and running with it, harry sat down and attempted to feel the magic around him. After a while, he felt the same pull as before, but this time it felt like he had opened his eyes. Harry could see himself, which he identified in his magical sight as a living creature. He could see the door, which look exactly the same as the last door, a connection between spaces. And he could see his wand.

Wow!

A wand is a beautiful thing.

Although wants channel as much destructive magic as constructive magic, what they really do is channel raw magic while the human shapes it. When Harry saw his wand he saw Purity. It was the only way to describe it.

Then Harry started to feel a headache, and quickly closed his magical eyes, open his real eyes, and thinking "huh, I guess that it's like a muscle too, and I'll have to work on keeping it open longer. I'll also have to try it while my eyes are open. Oh well, let's get the last task done."

With that, harry stood up and walked over to the door, and read the inscription:

FOUR TESTS YOU HAVE PASSED

AND NOW YOU STAND BEFORE THE LAST

TRUST YOU MIND

TRUST YOUR BODY

TRUST YOUR HEART

AND TRUST YOUR SOUL

IF YOU DO

THIS TRIAL IS YOURS

Harry sighed at yet another cryptic message, but he pushed the door open anyways and stepped through.

He saw that he was at the end of a hallway, and there was an open door at the end. Harry walked to the door and looked inside. Just as harry looked inside harry saw a girl, who he didn't recognize chained to the wall. He heard a voice whisper "_crucio"_ and he saw a colorless spell go shooting by. As the girl began to scream Harry Jumped forwards and yelled "Stop!"

He looked left and saw a tall man wearing a cloak and hood that covered his head.

As the man turned to face Harry, the girl stopped screaming and began whimpering. The man looke back at the girl and said "I guess our play time is over, such a pity"

And before Harry could speak the man's wand had leapt forwards and he had intoned "_avada kedavra._"

As the green bolt raced away from the wand Harry saw that it was headed towards the girl. Not thinking twice about it, but knowing it was the right thing to do, Harry jumped in front of the green bolt.

* * *

Once More there was a flash and the students clapped and cheered again. That ended when they saw the avatar standing in front of them without anyone.

And he was smiling.

He walked towards the students and said "Today is a glorious day indeed. Not one, but two incredible young people have passed the fifth and final test. Like Victor they proved to be of stout mind and strong will. Like Cedric the proved to have compassion for their fellow beings. They then went on and learned the skill of magic sight." This caused Albus Dumbledore, Luna Lovegood (is anyone surprised?), And Barty Crouch Jr. to sit up and really pay attention (Barty thought it was similar to his stolen eye).

The avatar went on and said "and after passing the fourth test, the test of Faith, they both went on and passed the test of Sacrifice, by giving their lives for another without thinking of reward, glory, or gain."

This caused everyone to gasp and Dumbledore paled severely. "Do not worry though, they aren't truly dead, they were merely in an illusion. But today is the day we celebrate that two have passed the Trial of Character."

Dumbledore stood up and asked, "Avatar, if they have passed then why are they not here?"

The Avatar looked at him and answered "They have been granted admission to the Ancient Library of Alexander the Great. They now have to earn the right to return home. The trial is truly the first of two tests. The first test proves that the person has the natural character necessary to not abuse the power found within the library. The second test is to prove that they have the knowledge to use the power without accidental harm to others. I expect them to come back within the next month."

With that, the avatar walked over to the book and tapped it, and was gone.

In Dumbledore's head the only words he could hear were "the power he knows not."

* * *

Harry woke up.

'Huh, I guess that makes two for me.'

He rolled over and saw Fleur waking up too. Without thinking he asked "How come I'm not dead?"

Fleur responded "yeah, me too?"

And they both Heard a voice say "Welcome Harry James Potter and Fleur Isabella Delacour to the Lost Library of Alexander the Great.

* * *

**AN: I like Cedric, and really, for the way i designed the tests, he did really good. he showed himself to be the top end of the average humans. finishing the fourth test is being an exceptional human. finishing the fifth test is to be legendary. they have to react, naturally, and throw themselves in front of certain death to pass. there is no time to think or to weigh the relative values of live, there is onlt time to react. I would expect dumbledore to pas the fourth test but fail the fifth. and a little bit on the fourth, it's not so much finding th ability to perceive magic, it's having enough faith in youself and control of yourself to not panic beyond your limits to control first.**

**AN2: i have finals this week, so we'll have to see how often chapter come out.**

**~delphinous**


	3. Chapter 3

The Second Trial: The Lost Library

Chapter 2

**AN: Fleur only opened up to Harry after he pulled Gabrielle out of the water. Since that didn't happen, I don't want to hear any complaints about her being 'too cold'. That will be resolved.**

"Welcome Harry James Potter and Fleur Isabella Delacour to the Lost Library of Alexander the Great."

At these words spoken with an ancient inflection Harry rolled over onto his back, wondering why he isn't dead, and who is speaking. He looks up and saw a man standing there. This man was about 5'6", and he has a rugged, dangerous air about him. His face had scars, obviously from battle wounds, and he had yet more scars upon his arms. He was wearing an armored vest, arm bracers, an armored skirt, shin braces, and sandals with straps wrapping around his calves. Normally attire of this nature would be subject to a few laughs, or at least a couple quite chuckles. On this man, it made him look deadly. On his head he wore a crested helm, and his dark hair could be seen peeking out around the edges. He had piercing pale blue eyes, and most disturbing of all, he was smiling like a small child.

"I'm sure you have many questions, but let me finish the introductions first, please. I am the Avatar of the Library, composed of the memories of Alexander the Great and his teacher in law and magic, Aristotle. You may call me avatar, or if you prefer, Alex. As you can see, you are not in fact dead. The fifth challenge, like all the rest, was a very powerful illusion. It was designed to see what you are at your core. Anyone with an intelligent mind can figure out the first four tests and pass them without actually meeting the requirements. People have been tested before who already knew the secrets of Magical Sight. They have all failed the fifth test, because at their core they cared more for themselves than for others. You, Fleur and Harry, have proven to have the moral fiber needed to safely pass on the knowledge of this library to you. That is what the tests are for. Upon you completion of you training here, you shall become the new guardians of Alexander's Library."

By this time both Harry and Fleur were standing, and Fleur spoke up in her melodic voice, asking "What do you mean 'after we have completed out training?' I need to get back to the school. I'm in a tournament right now, and I don't have time to be abducted by some ancient relic."

As she spoke in her accented English, Alex began chuckling. When she finished, he said, "That is the fire I have been looking for. Fear not, for while you will spend years here, only days will pass outside."

Feeling a bit ruffled at being forgotten, Harry spoke up "Sir, how can we spend years here and not have years go by? And why would we spend years here?"

Alex turns back to Harry and answers, "How do you think this library is in such good condition after these millennia? This Library was cast out of Space and Time as the final act of Alexander when he was lying on his death bed. While you are here, you will only be loosely tied to your time-stream. I do not know the exact relationship, but from what little I've seen so far one hour will pass for every month spent here. And because your stilled tied into your time stream, your bodies will age as fast as they do in the real world. That is how you will spend years here, and only age a few days. Now, as to what you'll been doing here, I must first ask you what you know of Alexander the Great."

Fleur immediately spoke up in her dulcet French tones "he was the greatest wizard warrior in recorded history. He is recorded to have slain the vampiric covens in Macedonia, defeated the muggle warlords of Persia, and ended the tyranical magic Army of Ra in Egypt."

Alex smiled again and said "you know well your history, child of sky and fire. But do you know how it was that Alexander was able to defeat these previously overwhelming forces?" seeing Harry and Fleur look away, he continued "He was a master enchanter. When Alexander learned of magic, he was nor very adept at the expressive magics, what you now call charms, transfigurations, hexes and curses. But he was an adept student at the subtler fields of magic. He was a master Mind Mage, and he could brew magical potions well. But where he truly excelled, and found his passion, was in the art of enchanting. Some of the campaigns Alexander went on were simply so that he could raid the tombs and collections of other enchanters. This library was built to contain all the works on enchanting Alexander could find, steal, buy, take, and write. It was trough his enchanted armors and weapons that his soldiers were able to overcome these great armies. And it is now your turn, Harry and Fleur, to show the world what power lies in enchanting."

Fleur spoke out now, still on edge after the tests, "alright, so zis is an old library about enchanting. Why are we to be confined here?"

Alex looked at her with a serious look on his face, "Enchanting is one of the most dangerous field of magic there is. A careless enchanter will not accidentally harm a child. A careless enchanter will accidentally destroy half of a city. You have proven yourselves responsible enough to wield the magic of enchanting, but until you have proved yourselves masters, you will not be released. It would be the same with handing a sword to a child. The child may be of good heart, and would never willingly use the sword to harm his friends, but until he is trained he will be a danger to all near him. Now come. You must be tired after those tests. I'll show you to your rooms, and tomorrow I'll start teaching you the basics of enchanting."

With that Alex walked through an archway, Fleur following without looking back. Harry followed, knowing he didn't have much choice.

* * *

Fleur woke up in her bed, and spent a few minutes putting her thoughts together. Her mind was still spinning after what she had learned yesterday.

She stretched, and slowly got out of bed, smiling at the unique mixture of old and new culture. She slept in a large bed, with an honest-to-god spring mattress, and yet she only has the opportunity to take a bath, there aren't any showers. These baths are large, similar to the old communal baths of ancient Rome, but there are two sets, for each gender.

Fleur grabs a towel from her wardrobe remembering Alex explaining that each wardrobe could supply the controller (the one who slept in the room) with any item of cloth that was required, but to be cautious because the clothes would only last a week before disappearing. Fleur, not being accustomed to wearing anything but her school robes repeatedly, found that this wouldn't be a problem. Any clothes put in, aside from the actual clothes they came in, would disappear when the door was shut. Alex had warned them to take care of their clothes, because that and whatever they enchanted were the only things they could take from the library when they left. Fortunately, their clothes would age at the same rate as their bodies, so if they left in a few years, the clothes wouldn't be moldy and decaying.

Wearing only a towel (and smiling inwardly at the gob-smacked expression on Harry's face) Fleur walked to the baths.

While she was relaxing in the bath, Fleur was thinking over what was on today's agenda. "I can't believe that we have the opportunity to become enchanters! There are only a handful of master enchanters in the world, and they only do custom work because of the rarity of enchanters. If I become a master, then my career will be set."

Once Fleur had let out all the bubbly emotions and young girl fantasies of being an enchanter, she recomposed herself and walked back to her room to get dressed. Seeing as today would be a day for learning, Fleur decided to wear her school uniform, as it had become a habit after 6 years of schooling.

As she walked towards the Kitchen, remembering the oddities of the kitchen from last nights tour, she was surprised but pleased to find a breakfast for two set out. Until she realized that Harry was probably just trying to impress her, and then she looked at the breakfast more critically. After a few moments, she found her criticism that would allow her to eat alone, without directly letting him know that she knew he was trying to woo her. After all, that is what all males who spent any time with her did.

Adopting a haughty stride, she looked at the food, snubbed her nose at it, and said acidly, "so you think this a breakfast. Pah. I'll show you what a real breakfast is, and I'll expect it to be set out every day before I arrive." She didn't really expect him to make her breakfast every morning, but it made for a convenient reason to keep her distance from him.

With that Fleur walked over to the bread pantry, and similarly to the wardrobe, mentally requested a baguette and two croissants, and pulled out the breads. After gathering some strawberry jam from the fruits cupboard, she sauntered back over to the table and placed her bead and jam in front of Harry. She told him what each item was, and what it tasted like. She then poured herself a cup of the tea he had brewed, and deciding that she had been harsh enough today, genuinely complimented him on the tea but asked for a weaker blend the next day. Harry took the criticism with a stoic face and didn't respond in any way to her other than to pay attention. After breakfast Fleur led the way to the atrium, where Alex said he would meet them to begin the day's tour and lesson.

On the way, Harry asked her "Um, Fleur, what were the challenges like that you went through?"

She turned to him and stared at him. When he didn't wilt after a full minute, she gave him a single tally of respect but answered caustically "that is a very personal question. If I ever decide to tell you, it will be by my choice and not your pestering." With that she turned around gracefully, acting as though nothing had happened, leaving a confused and subdued Harry to catch up to her.

When they arrived at the Atrium, Alex beamed at them, which stilled looked vaguely out of place on his warlike mug, and immediately turned around and began walking through the halls of the library. He began speaking as he walked. "This library was originally built to be Alexander's private enchanting Lab, but he decided that it should grow into a Library, and he spent years designing and enchanting the library until it is what you see today." He stopped and unlocked a door, before handing the key to Fleur, then walked through the door saying "this is where the common grade materials are stored." It was a long hallway with many doors down each side, each door engraved with a name. "behind every door you will find the usual materials used for low to mid level enchanting. Each material though, was harvested from the finest quality stock around. There" and he pointed to a book next to the entrance, "is the index off all the materials in this wing. There are many more rarer and volatile materials that are stored in other rooms, all of which are locked. If you want to get some of them, you will have to ask me first. I warn you, that attempting to open the doors with magic will not only alert me to the attempt but will teleport your back to your room, where you will remain locked in until I see fit to let you leave. Fleur will hold the Key to this room, but you are both allowed to make use of any materials you find in here."

He walked out of the material storage and continued down the hall. After a ways he unlocked another door, this time handing the key to Harry. He smiled at them and said as you can see, you will have to work together to get any work done while you are here at the library." He pushed open the door and walked through, Harry and Fleur following. "This is the primary carving and shaping lab. There are also labs for smelting, growing, and constructing. You will be granted access to those labs when you have shown sufficient proficiency with this one." He pointed towards a bench at a large table, and then at a large rack containing chisels, hammers, saws, and a number of implements neither Harry nor Fleur immediately recognized. There was also another table that held a number of vices and serviced for holding objects in place. "This will be where you turn the raw material into the object that you will eventually use. You will find that when crafting objects, if you allow your magic to suffuse your mind and body, your final result will be of much higher quality than your experience would otherwise indicate." (1)

He walked onwards, opening a final door and showing them the library proper. "This is where 80% of the books on enchanting are stored. You will find through our lessons and your reading that enchanting is as much instinctive as it is knowledge based. Now let us sit over there" he pointed at a table with chairs "and we will begin the days lesson."

Once they were situated, but before he could begin his lecture, Fleur asked "Sir, what is the final goal of this? You said that we would be allowed to leave once we had shown mastery over the lessons."

Alex smiled and said "I wondered how long it would be until I was asked. The final project is for you and Harry to make each other a suit of armor and a paired weapon. There are two secrets to this undertaking that you will have to discover through your learning. But we won't even begin planning those projects for years. Knowing how intelligent you both are, I would be surprised if we were here for more than ten years. I'm expecting about seven or eight years, but you could easily prove me wrong."

Harry and Fleur's eyes bugged out at this, not having realized that the time scale was so vast.

After they had calmed down somewhat Alex began the lesson. "Enchanting is currently the only known form of magic that is permanent. Warding, as it is called, is merely the enchanting of groups of objects to act as a boundary in some way, keeping specific things from passing in, out, or both. Runes, though they are ancient, are nothing so much as a poor attempt at replicating true enchanting. Runes were developed by people over the ages that had developed magical sight but didn't understand enchanting. They observed how magic was shaped when certain spells were cast and certain enchantments were activated. They then, through trial and error, found that by carving similar paths into objects and pushing magic through those paths they could replicate existing spells and enchantments. This is not enchanting. True enchanting is actually the reverse." Here he paused, and seeing that both of his students were attentively watching, he asked a question.

"Harry, what would be the reverse of runic magic as I have described it?"

Harry thought for a minute, and finally answered, questioningly, "is is making the magic flow how you want it and then binding it in place?"

Alex smiled and said "close, Fleur?"

Fleur though for a while, having had the same though as Harry, and finally shook her head.

Alex smiled and said "well Harry was nearly right, but what enchanting truly is, is finding the natural flow that acts in the way you desire and attaching it to your object. Runic magic is forcing and unnatural flow upon an object. With true enchanting, every enchantment will be unique because each base material will be slightly different, and that will change the flow. You will also find that the inherent intentions of the object will influence the enchanting. It will be far easier to enchant a sword to strike true and cut through all than it would be to enchant a boot to start a fire. A sword is made with the intention of cutting, slashing, and stabbing things, while a boot is made to protect the feet, not start a fire. You will spend about half of your time learning to imbue your intentions into the object you are crafting, and about half your time learning to find and attach the natural flows to your object."

And with that Harry and Fleur became absorbed in the lesson where Alex showed them a few simple enchanted rocks and taught them the beginnings of enchanting.

* * *

It was a week later and Harry was reflecting back on the week he and Fleur had lived so far in the library. He was cooking some eggs on the stove, still exasperated that the kitchen could conjure complicated food like eggs and cheese, but could only conjure them at room temperature, and so he was stuck cooking whenever he wanted to eat a hot item. After the second day, when he had obviously surprised Fleur by preparing her breakfast and even joining her in having a French breakfast, they had agreed that they would trade off days for cooking, and today was his day, so he was trying a mixed English and French breakfast, with eggs, fresh fruit, toast, and tea. He sighed as he thought about her cool exterior. A few times during the past week Harry had managed to surprise Fleur and she had reacted normally those times. But the rest of the week she was still cold towards him and barely acknowledged his presence.

After another frosty breakfast, which Harry though was a little less frosty as she accepted the mixed breakfast instead of the traditional English breakfast he could have made, they headed off to the library again. They had spent most of the week practicing Magical Sight while the other cast spells, of describing the enchantments on various objects around the library. The rest of the week had been learning the basics of carving and shaping stone, wood, and soft metals. Harry was surprisingly better at crafting, while Fleur was better at seeing with her Magical Sight. When they entered the library today, they found Alex standing instead of sitting at the table.

"Follow me. It is time to show you to outdoor room." He said with some excitement. As they followed him, he explained "I know how tiring it can be to learn every day even when you enjoy the subject. To that end, I am giving you both the seventh day of every week off, where you can work on personal projects, sleep in, write a book, or my personal favorite," and as he said this he stopped in front of a pair of twenty foot doors, the kind often seen inside a castle for the throne room, "the outdoor room. It took Alexander two years to design this room, and another year to enchant it. If you're wondering where he found the time, there wasn't much to do on a march, and this kept him occupied."

With that he swing the doors open showing Harry and Fleur one of the most beautiful sights they had ever seen.

It was a meadow, with a clear blue lake to the left, a forest surrounding it, and a mountain beyond the forest.

Alex said "the limits of the room are approximately thirty miles in each direction, though if you climb to the top of the mountain you will see farther than thirty miles. As you get within one mile of the edge you will feel a pushing sensation, encouraging you to go back. If you go the final mile you will walk into the wall of the room. The ceiling is approximately three miles up, and everything within the room is real. Everything beyond the walls is an illusion. The animals are constructs enchanted to act like he actual animals, but they are not real. They will however bleed out and die if you slay any of them. The room will reset every time you leave it, so if you kill a horse, say, you can leave, and when you walk back it will run around like it was alive again."

Harry and Fleur were speechless; this was so far beyond anything they had ever dreamed was possible. Alex saw the stunned looks on their faces, and said "Alexander was a true prodigy. He was a natural enchanter and had a strong connection to nature. I seriously doubt that anyone will ever be able to recreate a room similar to this. I do not expect you to enchant anything this magnificent, for this was the culmination of Alexander's life's work. He saw this as his penance for the death and destruction he inflicted upon the world, although it was necessary at the time."

Harry and Fleur just looked at each other, and slowly walked into the outdoor room. It wasn't until that night that they realized they had spent the entire day together enjoying the replica of nature together. This surprised both of them, Harry hat Fleur was nice for the whole day, and Fleur that Harry had never tried to take advantage of her, as she expected him to as a male.

* * *

It was now the first day of the third week, and Fleur was excited. Today they would begin their first enchantment. It would be simple. They merely had to enchant a door to lock whenever it closed. Harry and Fleur had both made small doors, about one foot by two-and-a-half feet, and once they had mastered this enchantment they would be ready to move on to further enchanting.

Alex told Harry and Fleur to watch with their magical sight as he enchanted his own door to lock whenever it closed.

They sat there, having only master two days ago the art of adding Magical sight to their other senses, instead of only using magical sight or the common five senses. They both watched as Alex slowly pushed magic through the door, through the frame, and through the lock. They watched how he let the door guide the magic, how he didn't force it. They watched how the magic changed when the door closed, and how he bound that change into a trigger for the enchantment. They watched as he locked and unlocked the door, and watched as he carefully bound the process of locking to the trigger of closing the door, causing the trigger to make the door initiate the lock once it was closed. He continued pushing the magic through the door while he opened it and closed it, and when the door locked, he smiled and tied the ends together in what he called an infinity knot, a magical loop that allowed enchantments to last indefinitely. They watched as he pulled his magic out and tried the door again. When it locked they closed off their magical sight and applauded Alex.

He told them to got eat some lunch and rest, and they realized that they had been watching him for four hours. After a subdued lunch, they both began attempting to enchant their doors, one at a time, with the other watching so they could both learn from the mistakes one made.

It took three more days before Fleur successfully enchanted her door, and it was the next day when Harry finished his.

* * *

It was now one month into their stay at the library, and Harry was watching Fleur with his magical sight as she attempted to enchant a plate to warm anything on it at a key word. It was the seventh day of the week and Fleur was working on a side project that she had gotten approval for from Alex. She apparently wanted to be able to take some food into her room and have it stay warm if she didn't immediately eat it.

While Harry watched Fleur's attempts at enchanting the plate, he thought back over the last month. He had been having a great deal of fun learning the art of enchanting with Fleur. He still didn't know what to make of Fleur. At times she seemed treat him cordially and be ready to be his friend, and other times she seemed to wish he has failed one of the tests so she could be out of his presence. He sighed and wished he could break through her shell. He thought had figured out last week why she would have a shell that she presented to the world. He thought it was somewhat similar to his fame from being the boy-who-lived. He guessed that as a veela, she would be looked up to and adored by most of the males of her school, and would be hated or ignored by the females. He guessed that she had built her cold shell to keep the sheep from affecting her. but Harry wished she would left it down enough to see that there were people who were willing o get to know her. It had only taken three days of close contact for Harry to overcome her passive veela aura. Surprisingly he found that watching her aura interact with his magic core taught him how to ignore it, even when she turned it up some. She had yet to give him a full blast, and Harry was thankful, because he wasn't sure he could resist her full allure, but he knew he could resist her passive attraction.

'What is she doing? Oh, she must be getting frustrated. The magic flow is writhing. I think she's going to lose this attempt. Wait! Is she trying to force it?! Oh shit!'

* * *

Fleur was getting frustrated at this plate. It just wouldn't cooperate and nicely heat her food. It kept jumping strait from cooling her food to burning it. As the flow writhed once more she tried to grab it and force it to follow the path she knew would work. Then she felt if leap out of her magical hands and rush towards her. 'Oh no! this was the magical backlash Alex had warned us about.' She only had time to close her eyes as it hit her.

Thump

"Auughh!"

'Huh? That didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would. But why did it hit my right shoulder?'

As she thought this, she realized that the noise hadn't come from her, and as she opened her eyes she felt dread rush down her spine like ice water.

There, lying on the ground before her table, was the unmoving form of Harry Potter. And he was lying in a growing pool of blood.

**AN: (1) this idea, and the general idea of what intention really means, will be expanded upon in future chapters. But this will be where I allow magic to make the difference between two teenagers trying to craft, say, a sword, and a master swordsmith crafting a sword. Because the masters sword would beat their swords every time, and there is no point in Harry and Fleur having shoddy equipment just because they haven't devoted their life to metalworking.**

**As I have told on reviewer, I am open to constructive criticism, and I will happily discuss any aspect of my story with anyone brave enough to dispute something I have written. I will not abide flamers, because there is no reason for anyone to bash a story. Grow up people.**


End file.
